Time Management Amongst Small Business Owner/Managers: An Analysis of Retail Pharmacies in Western Australia

The usage of time by small business owner/managers is a relatively poorly understood phenomenon. Whilst several studies have previously attempted to measure how much time owners spend working on their business, few researchers have tried to evaluate what activities and tasks consume that time. This is an important issue for small firms, because time is a limited resource and its use needs to be maximised if an owner is to achieve all the goals set for his or her business.A study of 155 retail ("community") pharmacy owner/managers throughout Western Australia sought to measure what proportion of their time was spent on each of six different management responsibilities: marketing; client relations; dealing with external stakeholders; record-keeping & paperwork; business planning and strategy; and other issues (such as staffing matters or technology issues). The study also sought to evaluate what, if any, links existed between the owner's age, their gender, firm size and the variations in the pattern of time usage.It was found that no clear links could be established between time consumption and any of the above three variables. However, three distinctively different types of managerial time styles were identified "shop floor" owner/managers (who are focused on customer contact and relationships), "proactive" managers (who focus on business development, marketing and strategic planning), and "duty bound" proprietors (who concentrate on administrative tasks)

Epistasis can lead to fragmented neutral spaces and contingency in evolution

In evolution, the effects of a single deleterious mutation can sometimes be compensated for by a second mutation which recovers the original phenotype. Such epistatic interactions have implications for the structure of genome space - namely, that networks of genomes encoding the same phenotype may not be connected by single mutational moves. We use the folding of RNA sequences into secondary structures as a model genotype-phenotype map and explore the neutral spaces corresponding to networks of genotypes with the same phenotype. In most of these networks, we find that it is not possible to connect all genotypes to one another by single point mutations. Instead, a network for a phenotypic structure with $n$ bonds typically fragments into at least $2^n$ neutral components, often of similar size. While components of the same network generate the same phenotype, they show important variations in their properties, most strikingly in their evolvability and mutational robustness. This heterogeneity implies contingency in the evolutionary process.Comment: 21 pages, 21 figure

An FTIR spectrometer for remote measurements of atmospheric composition

The JPL IV interferometer, and infrared Michelson interferometer, was built specifically for recording high resolution solar absorption spectra from remote ground-based sites, aircraft and from stratospheric balloons. The instrument is double-passed, with one fixed and one moving corner reflector, allowing up to 200-cm of optical path difference (corresponding to an unapodised spectral resolution of 0.003/cm). The carriage which holds the moving reflector is driven by a flexible nut riding on a lead screw. This arrangement, together with the double-passed optical scheme, makes the instrument resistant to the effects of mechanical distortion and shock. The spectral range of the instrument is covered by two liquid nitrogen-cooled detectors: an InSb photodiode is used for the shorter wavelengths (1.85 to 5.5 microns, 1,800 to 5,500/cm) and a HgCdTe photoconductor for the range (5.5 to 15 microns, 650 to 1,800/cm). For a single spectrum of 0.01/cm resolution, which requires a scan time of 105 seconds, the signal/noise ratio is typically 800:1 over the entire wavelength range

Memory and metamemory for social interactions: Evidence for a metamemory expectancy illusion

People do not always have accurate metacognitive awareness of the conditions that lead to good source memory. In Experiment1, participants studied words referring to bathroom and kitchen items that were either paired with an expected or unexpectedroom as the source. Participants provided judgments of item and source learning after each item–source pair. In line with previousstudies, participants incorrectly predicted their memory to be better for expected than for unexpected sources. Here, we show thatthis metamemory expectancy illusion generalizes to socially relevant stimuli. In Experiment2, participants played a prisoner’sdilemma game with trustworthy-looking and untrustworthy-looking partners who either cooperated or cheated. After each roundof the game, participants provided metamemory judgments about how well they were going to remember the partner’sfaceandbehavior. On average, participants predicted their source memory to be better for behaviors that were expected based on the facialappearances of the partners. This stands in contrast to the established finding that veridical source memory is better for unex-pected than expected information. Asking participants to provide metamemory judgments at encoding selectively enhancedsource memory for the expected information. These results are consistent with how schematic expectations affect source memoryand metamemory for nonsocial information, suggesting that both are governed by general rather than by domain-specificprinciples. Differences between experiments may be linked to the fact that people may have special beliefs about memory forsocial stimuli, such as the belief that cheaters are particularly memorable (Experiment3)

Seroepidemiological survey for canine angiostrongylosis in dogs from Germany and the UK using combined detection of Angiostrongylus vasorum antigen and specific antibodies

Dogs infected with Angiostrongylus vasorum, a potentially lethal parasite parasitizing the heart and pulmonary arteries, may present severe respiratory, haematological and neurological signs. In this first large-scale seroepidemiological survey, 4003 sera originating from Germany and 4030 from the UK were tested by an ELISA for the detection of circulating antigen of A. vasorum, and by a separate ELISA detecting specific antibodies. In Germany, where mainly western federal states were sampled, 0·3% (n = 13, CI: 0·2-0·6%) of dogs were positive in both ELISAs, whereas in total 0·5% (n = 20, CI: 0·3-0·8%) were antigen-positive and 2·25% (n = 90, CI: 1·8-2·8%) were positive for specific antibodies. Regions with antigen- and antibody-positive animals were overlapping. In the UK, where mainly the south of the country was sampled, 0·97% (n = 39, CI: 0·7-1·3%) of dogs were antigen- and antibody positive. In total, 1·32% (n = 53, CI: 1·0-1·7%) were antigen-positive, and 3·2% (n = 129, CI: 2·7-3·8%) were positive for specific antibodies, again in overlapping regions. These results confirm the occurrence of A. vasorum in a random dog population originating from large parts of the countries investigated. The use of the tests alone or in combination was considered as a function of their sensitivities and specificities, in order to guide efficient clinical and epidemiological applicatio

Patients' with type 2 diabetes willingness to pay for insulin therapy and clinical outcomes

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed patient preferences, using willingness to pay as a method to measure different treatment characteristics or attributes associated with injectable insulin therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Adults with type 2 diabetes in 12 countries, diagnosed >6 months prior and receiving insulin for >3 months, were recruited through a representative online panel. Data were collected via online questionnaire and analyzed using a standard choice model for discrete choice experiment. RESULTS: A total of 3758 patients from North America (n=646), South America (n=1537), and Europe (n=1575) completed the study. Mean glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels in North America, South America, and Europe were 63 mmol/mol (7.9%), 75 mmol/mol (9.0%), and 64 mmol/mol (8.0%), respectively. In the three regions, monthly willingness to pay was US$116, US$74, and US$92, respectively, for a 1$99, US$80, and US$104 for one less major hypoglycemic event per year; and US$64, US$37 and US$60 for a 3 kg weight decrease. To avoid preinjection preparation of insulin, the respective values were US$47, US$18, and US$37, and US$25, US$25, and US$24 for one less injection per day. Among respondents on basal-only insulin who had previously tried a more intensive regimen, reasons for switching back included difficulty in handling multiple injections and risk of hypoglycemic events. CONCLUSIONS: Reducing HbA1c, frequency of major hypoglycemic events and weight decrease were the highest valued outcomes in each region. The administrative burden of injections was also considered important

Imaging the Electrocyte of Torpedo Marmorata by Scanning Force Microscopy

Scanning force microscopy (SFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to examine the tissue structure of the electric organ of Torpedo marmorata in air and in liquid after applying fracturing and cryosectioning techniques and chemical fixation. The electric organ is organized in columns of stacked electrocytes, arranged in a honeycomb pattern. The columns were cut along a plane normal to the cell stack and thin sections were transferred to polylysine coated glass coverslips. The polarity of the electrocytes was made apparent by immunofluorescence microscopy directed to different domains of the acetylcholine receptor (AChR), thus revealing the innervated face of the cell. SFM and SEM both showed cell surfaces to be overlaid by a network of collagen fibers by their characteristic banding pattern with about 64 nm periodicity and about 2.5 nm corrugation amplitude. In liquid, significantly lower structural resolution was achieved by SFM, probably due to sample elasticity

Methodology of assessment of population satisfaction with the quality of medical service based on the adaptive polling technologyn

This article covers the problem of assessment of patient satisfaction as a parameter of the quality of medical service. The existing methods of assessment of patients' attitude to a medical institution, their benefits and disadvantages are considered. The methodology for the calculation of the satisfaction coefficient is proposed, which can be the basis for the application of the technology (depending on the type and amount of medical care received by the patient) of adaptive polling and analysis of the information received